David Rakoff: Maybe the problem is that some have interpreted this body twisting in freefall as a piece of grim, plastic photojournalism.

Eric Fischl: One might see a moment of impact in a kind of way that implies brain splattering, a graphic moment there. The thing is that if you look at the piece itself, it feels like a dream in which somebody is floating. There’s no weight there that is sending the crushing, rippling current back through the body as it hits a solid mass. It feels more like tumbleweed, even though it’s a massive sculpture. So somebody else looking at it might say, “God, it reminds me of falling in a dream right before I wake up.” Both of those are probably correct.